Our passage today straddles the end of one chapter looking at the Gospel of John, starting at chapter 11, verse 45, and reading through chapter 12, verse 11. There are sermon note handouts today, and I should have mentioned that earlier. So if you would like that, it might help. It might help a little bit because there's kind of things happening at different layers or different levels in these verses. So, Lazarus has been raised from the dead by Jesus. Remember, as we saw last week, that Jesus not only stood by the grave, but in his grace he really entered the grave. And he gives not only the promise of life beyond the grave, but the promise that he's with us in all the challenges. and disappointments of life. So that helps us have courage and to face fear and really fear is going to be the theme of these focus and these passages today. So after that took place, the raising of Lazarus, we read starting at verse 45 of John chapter 11. Many of the Jews therefore who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, that is in raising Lazarus, believed in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, what are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him. And the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, you know nothing at all, nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish. He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on, they made plans to put him to death. Jesus, therefore, no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness to a town called Ephraim. And there he stayed with the disciples. Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, Many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another, as they stood in the temple, what do you think, that he will come to the feast at all? The chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know so that they might arrest him. Six days before the Passover, in chapter 12, Jesus therefore came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served. Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure lard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, he who was about to betray him, said, why was this ointment not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor? He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. And having charge of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. Jesus said, leave her alone so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. The poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me." When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came not only on account of him, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death. Because on account of him, many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus. And may the living God today impress upon our hearts and our minds the truth of his word. Amen. You've heard the old saying, no good deed goes unpunished. Certainly true of Jesus in this incident, isn't it? He has done a good deed. He has done truly the best of deeds in raising Lazarus from the dead. And it's so amazing and so glorious that it is almost shocking to read that many believed. It's shocking because it's fair to ask, why not everyone? Why did not everyone at that point believe in Jesus and give glory to God? Now some did believe, and that's good news. They came to Mary to comfort her in her grief, we read last week. Her brother Lazarus had died, and they saw the amazing miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, and they believed. They believed in him. But, as we see here, many did not believe. In fact, they are contrasted with those who did believe. They're contrasted. We know it's a contrast because we see that some are said to have believed, but the others, what did they do? They went to the Pharisees, right? And they went to the Pharisees as evangelists, right? They might have had the jelly beans. No. But they went to share the good news that the Pharisees would believe. No. They knew full well. that when the Pharisees got the report about what Jesus was doing, they would stop him. They would do something to stop him. Whether they would kill him or not, they might not have known, but they did not believe, and their unbelief was seen, and they wanted Jesus to be stopped. So the passage begins with these two very different responses to Jesus. Now as the passage continues, and why I read into chapter 12, I haven't always thought to combine these, but really what we see is these two different responses of belief and unbelief fleshed out in greater detail by two groups, two representatives. On the one hand there is the unbelief, which is seen in the religious leaders and in particular Caiaphas the high priest, but then we have a wonderful example of actual belief, and that is in the story of Mary. So this is why you're gonna need the handout, maybe. Two responses. Exemplified in two ways, but we're not done yet, and actually taking place as we'll see at two different levels. So we'll start with the first example, that of unbelief again by the religious leaders and by the high priest Caiaphas in particular. And the primary response here of this unbelief, their unbelief, is fear. It really is fear. Notice the first It's a desperate fear with dangerous connections. In verse 47 it says, So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, What are we to do? The council is the ruling body of Israel. They led the nation. They did it under the authority of Rome. and the leadership of the Roman rulers of that region. But they pretty much had full authority over the nation of Israel, this council. It was made up mostly of priests and elders, and there were a few in this council who were Pharisees. But guess what? These Pharisees were considered. We always think of Pharisees because they're mentioned so much in the New Testament. We think they're kind of like important people and the good guys, but the Pharisees were actually looked down upon. So in this council, you have a few Pharisees, but they're really not very respected. And the question is why? Why then would the Pharisees convene a council with people who did not like them? And the answer is fear. It's a desperate fear. And fear leads to dangerous, unhealthy connections, right? You see this over and over again in the history of Israel. They're threatened by a foreign power, whatever it is, a foreign power starts to show up at their doorstep. They start to get afraid. And what do they do? They get on the phone. Hey, Egypt, can you help us out here? They're immediately trying to reach to an unhealthy connection. And that's what fear does. We see it all around us, don't we? Maybe in our own lives when we're afraid. Do we turn to maybe some unhealthy connection and relationship, you know, when people are dealing with addiction and recovery from addiction, what's one of the most important and immediate counsels they get? Don't go back there. Don't reconnect to those relationships and those dynamics. If you physically have to move, that is even better. Maybe we've done that. Maybe we deal with fear, though, by turning not to unhealthy places, but to unhealthy practices, behaviors, and patterns. That's what fear does. But also, we see in the passage the irrational fear and an exaggeration. The verse continues, for this man, speaking of Jesus, this man performs many signs. Get this, if we let him go on like this, everyone, everyone will believe in him. There's no attempt to deny what Jesus did. This is why it's irrational. They all admit Jesus is doing miracles. They understand these are signs. And they should have at least asked and inquired. What is Jesus teaching? But they can't follow the evidence. They don't want to lead down the path of the logical conclusion. It's irrational. It's a spiritual issue. It's driven by fear. And that's the challenge we often have, don't we, in terms of sharing our faith or talking to people about the Bible or Jesus. substantial truth and facts, you just can sense the resistance. I don't want to go there, because there is where Jesus is. And I don't want to go there, even though the evidence points me there. You see, they're afraid, and so they're irrational. But they're also irrational because of their wild exaggeration. Everyone's going to Jesus. Obviously, not everyone went to Jesus because a number of people went to them and told them, hoping that they would stop Jesus. So not everyone's going to Jesus. And they had their circles of friends and others as religious leaders. But again, without a foundation of faith, without belief, this is where unbelief leads. This is what we need to see. Desperate actions, dangerous connections, irrational, exaggerating, right? And I'm sure you've never done this, right? Everything's falling apart. Things will never get better. Nobody likes me, whatever the exaggeration might be. And at the heart is fear. So the next fear, though, you see here is self-serving fear. Verse 48 continues, the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. This really is the root of their fears. They want to hold on to what they have, their position, their prestige, their possessions, their material goods. They claim to be concerned about the nation, but look at that verse. If you have the handout underlined, take away our place, our place. They said that before they mentioned the nation, almost like they caught themselves, right? They'll take away our place. Oh yeah, and maybe the nation too. They were concerned about their place, their prestige and power. What should they have done? This may sound strange, but really they should have had a trial, not like the trial The fake trial when Jesus was brought before them, they should have had a real trial. That's what religious authorities are meant to do. We have very little respect for the authority of church, right, and officers, but they should, they had been invested with the right to check it out. They should have brought Jesus in. They should have questioned him. But again, rather than being irrational, When they learned that the signs Jesus did and the things that he taught really confirmed that he was the Messiah, they should have been leading the charge. They should have been the ones saying, people of God, your Messiah has come. But again, they are what? Afraid. They're driven by self-preservation. Everyone will go out to Him. And so instead of fulfilling their calling and lifting up Jesus, they must remove Him, which leads to the last example and expression of fear we see in their unbelief, and that is a deadly fear. Verse 50. The words of Caiaphas, it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish. So they are bent on destroying Jesus and I wanted to read to the part about Lazarus because guess what they wanted to do to Lazarus? They wanted to kill him too. This fear is just driving them. Anything that would threaten their well-being they want to destroy and remove. Jesus knows their intent and he's not afraid but he does go away because as we'll see Jesus is always in charge really. This death, he knows is coming, will have to happen on his terms and his time, and it's not time, so he removes himself from their spotlight. And then he does attend a dinner party. And he does that in the town of Bethany. Lazarus was there along with his sisters Mary and Martha. And so now we come to that second example in our passage of a response to Jesus. This is the response of faith. We saw unbelief. in Caiaphas and the religious leaders, and now we see the response of faith fleshed out with detail. And we see it in Mary, where the religious leaders were controlled by fear because of their unbelief. Mary is compelled by love because of her faith. Don't miss that, right? The religious leaders, they're controlled They are controlled by their fears because they have no faith. They have unbelief. Mary is compelled and she's compelled by love because of her faith. So let's notice her love. First of all, it's sacrificial. In the story it says, Mary therefore, chapter 12, took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard. This is sacrificial love because this is a costly and generous gift. It says, well, over a year's worth of money and it is costly, costly not just because It's expensive, but it's costly because of what it represents. You have to put yourself in the world, right? I mean, Mary couldn't go to the bank or go to an ATM, make withdraws, do transactions. This was something that was in her life. She had this. This might have been a family treasure. Probably was. It was part of her life, her heritage, her identity. Something she might pass on to her children. This very well might be her security for the future. This might have been her retirement plan. But dear friend, don't miss it. Her faith is stronger than her fear. She does not hold on to the perfume and what it can provide. She is more intent on holding on to Jesus. That's the love, the sacrificial love that comes from a heart of faith. And see how it's contrasted with that picture of unbelief. Her love is humble. The passage says, she anointed the feet of Jesus. Other accounts of this event, we see Mary anointed his head. Well, which was it? Her head or his feet? Obviously she did both. Maybe his hands or his arms. This was a lot of ointment, right? Now some gospel writers focus on the anointed head of Jesus. Why would they do that? Because kings When they began to reign, we're anointed on their head. So some of the gospel writers see as Mary's anointing his head and his feet. They're focusing on his head because why? Jesus is the king. But in the gospel of John, he zooms in on Mary anointing the feet of Jesus. Why would he do that? Well, in just a chapter, we're going to see Jesus washing the disciples' feet. does so as a clear sign of his humility and as a pattern that they are to follow." So her love is sacrificial, her love is humble, and it's bold. Continue with the passage, she wiped his feet with her hair and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. That is a bold act, but it was the fruit of faith that was in her life. So here's this powerful scene that does teach us a great deal, and yet, if that weren't enough, there's something going on at a deeper level. Did I tell you there were two responses with two examples at two levels? So here's that deeper level, right? Judas protests the generous act of Mary, but Jesus responds in verse seven, defending her. Leave her alone, he says, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. so that a level Mary probably does not realize she is preparing in advance the body of Jesus for his burial. He's going to die. Now Jesus is fully aware of what awaits him. He will be betrayed, arrested, judged, and killed. But Jesus has been obedient to this plan for his death throughout his life and he accepts it willingly since he has the power to stop it if he so chooses. You know that. Jesus is obedient to the plan and to the father. He loves the father and so he is allowing this to happen. He's even kind of steering the timing of when it happens. Remember John 10 verses 17 and 18. Jesus said, I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down. I have authority to take it up again. Get this. This charge I have received from my father. What does that tell you? Jesus is in control of his death and the timing of it. So here we have Caiaphas and the religious leaders, they're following this plan, this wicked evil plan that they've devised because they're so clever to stop Jesus and kill Jesus. And yet Jesus is going to accomplish his perfect plan through them. Well, like Mary, Caiaphas says more than he understands with his statement. This is the deeper level of meaning related to his words. He reveals what Jesus will accomplish, not knowing it, but that's what he does. Verse 51, we see that Jesus is going to be a substitute. And here's the heart and core of the gospel. If you're a Christian, if you're a believer, this is the foundation of what you hope in and trust in. Through Caiaphas, of all things, right? So it says he, Caiaphas, prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation. He's suggesting that Jesus die in the place of or as a substitute for someone else, in this case the nation. But that is the essence of the gospel. It's the good news. When a person believes in Jesus, Jesus is their substitute. Jesus took on himself the guilt of their sin, the just punishment and penalty that their sin deserved. But it was an exchange. In 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21, it's put this way. God made him, speaking of Jesus, to be sin, Jesus was the sinless one, but God made him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. If you believe in Jesus Christ, acknowledge your sin, look to him as your savior, this is what has happened to you, right? Your sins have been put on him. His righteousness, His goodness has been put on you. The gospel is not only what Jesus accomplished, as good as that is, having our sins removed, receiving His righteousness, perfect standing before God, it's also how Jesus accomplished it, right? They, Caiaphas and the religious leaders, they wanted to remove Jesus by destroying Him. But by destroying Jesus, God made him our Savior. What is meant for evil, God uses for good. Dear friend, this is why faith can triumph over fear. You see evil all around you. You're treated badly. You may be persecuted. If not now, you will be persecuted, right? And the gospel is the good news that we will be in Christ, right? We are made righteous. That's the gospel outcome. But here's the gospel process. God uses evil. God uses suffering to accomplish the good that he intends. If you don't have that foundation, all you have is fear, right? If you don't have that foundation, not only in the gospel outcome that you will live with Christ forever, but in the gospel process, when you are mistreated, when things go poorly in your life, when you get the bad health diagnosis, here comes the fear. And as we close, don't miss this. Remember Caiaphas. You're not as bad as Caiaphas, by the way, okay? He's given not to just like, okay, I'm, well, maybe I am Caiaphas. But really, the important thing is this is the trajectory. Here's the patterns and the seeds that are taking root in your heart. If you don't have this gospel foundation in your life, fear is going to start to entangle you. You will be desperate, you will make dangerous connections, you will be self-serving, self-gratifying. You will not have the foundation to hold on. But dear friend, in the gospel, you have again not only the outcome, but you have the assurance of the process. Everything that was planned against Jesus was used for good, for good. You know, sometimes I think as I, you know, think of the story of Jesus, I think, well, they've got an evil plan and God's got a different plan, right? They've got this intention of evil and suffering and God's gonna like overpower it because he's God, right? That's not the gospel, that's not what happened. Jesus didn't deny the plan, he didn't change the plan, he didn't defeat the plan, he followed the plan. And yet through the plan of evil and suffering, the good came. Dear friend, do you believe that? Is that the foundation of your life? If so, hold on to it, right? And here's the thing, just to highlight it, beware of unbelief. Again, you're not as bad as Caiaphas, but you're meant to see in Caiaphas these patterns of fruit of unbelief. You're not as good as Mary either, by the way. But see in Mary the trajectory, right? See what faith looks like, see what love is really all about. It's sacrificial, it's laying your life down. Not to earn God's love and favor, because that's a gift, but because of God's love and favor. It's sacrificial, it's generous, it's humble and bold. We are to stay rooted in that gospel and we are to walk with the Lord by his grace to where he leads. Remember the religious leaders, they thought they were saving a nation and killing Jesus, but again, remember that gospel process, what did they do? By Jesus following that evil plan, there became a new nation, a new people. born again by grace, children of God. And John chapter one, verses 13, it says, to all who did receive him, that's Jesus, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. It is those born again children that Jesus is forming a new nation, an eternal nation, a better nation. And so Peter said to Jews and non-Jews in 1 Peter 2, verse 9, you are a chosen race, wasn't talking about Jews exclusively, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, there it is, a people for his own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. So we don't have to live in fear. We are being formed by God's grace into a new people, and we need God's grace to do that. We believe the gospel. We stay rooted in the gospel, the gospel outcome, but also the gospel process. We follow God's plan to be knit together as a people, right? This is one of the ways we battle fear. Not alone. You need others. You really do. You need physical connection with others in worship, but in other settings too, in classes and groups and Sunday schools. This is God's gift to you to battle fear, right? Because you need the support and they need your support. The question should never be what, you know, should I be part of a group or not? The question should always be which group? So we see the passage, sin scatters. Jesus gathers. Gathering together is the gift of God to help us hold on to faith and to battle fear. And as we come to communion, that's what we remember, right? That the Lord, by his wonderful grace, has given us the hope and the promise of eternal life. He is knitting us together with himself, but communion is also a powerful picture and is meant to represent how we are knit together to one another. in the eternal everlasting body of Christ. May that be so for our good and for God's glory. Let us pray. Lord, we do thank you for the hope and the promise of what you've laid before us. We do thank you for a stark picture of a challenging reality. We know we battle challenges. We know fear seeks to gather and crowd out our heart. And so we look to you and hold on to you in faith, dear Lord. Thank you for the promise to be with us. Thank you for the gospel outcome. Thank you for the gospel process, that you are working all things together for good. Not just someday, not just somewhere, not just with someone, but with all your people. And for this, we give you our thanks and our praise and our very hearts. Amen.